Thursday, December 29, 2011

Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

We had a great Thanksgiving week. A couple of days before Taylor had a musical program and feast at her school.



On Thanksgiving morning Taylor got all dressed up and wanted a picture with the turkey so we would remember it was Thanksgiving day.


Thanksgiving morning.



Our yummy Thanksgiving spread with Preston walking into the picture frame on purpose.



Some pictures of the family before we ate.









We heated the pool for that weekend and had some fun swimming. Will say it is the first time I have ever swam on Thanksgiving day.

Some opted not to swim and enjoyed the swingset instead.

A cute picture of Taylor and cousin Henry.



We had a talent show that afternoon with the family. Nathan told some jokes.

Natalie sang "Once there was a snowman"



Taylor sang some Thanksgiving songs from her program.



On Friday after Thanksgiving we hung out at my Parent's house. This is a cute picture of Natalie and cousin Warner.


The grandkids had a standing long jump competition.



On Saturday morning most of us went rapelling.



This picture has quite a story behind it. Taylor, Thomas, Henry and Nathan climbed up the mountain to go to where Preston and Steven were waiting. I took a picture of the kids climbing up and then I headed back to the other side of the base of the mountain to watch. The kids missed the turn and went too far at the top and were lost. None of the adults were aware until Preston hollered down to ask if we were sending anyone up to rappell. Christina then headed up to find them. She found them with another lady that was up at the top. This stranger said that the kids had been trained right because when she found them they were all 4 kneeling in a circle praying.


Nathan rapelled for the first time. It was a 100 plus cliff.


Preston



Nathan (sorry out of order)


Taylor got all the gear on and started over the cliff and decided against it. We were proud of her for trying.
Me going down.



Saturday afternoon we played some minute to win it games.




It was a great weekend.

Activities in November 2011

Some pictures of activities in the month of November. Amanda turned 1 month old on 11/10/11


We went to skateland again as a family. Some cousins met us there. Natalie loves to skate and likes to do it all by herself without holding anyones hand. She also would turn in a circle and think she was pretty hot stuff.



Nathan is quite the skater and his cousin Daniel (black shirt) picked it up quickly.



Taylor used the skate mate but has now learned how to skate without it. She even got a new pair of skates for Christmas.


No skateland trip would be complete without doing the cha cha slide.



Our new stake had a rodeo during November. The kids had an activity of trying to catch a chicken. It was very entertaining to watch.



Nathan is wearing the burgundy hoodie waiting for his attempt at catching the chicken.

Pony rides.






Petting Zoo








Watching some rodeo activities.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Amanda's Blessing Day

On Sunday November 27th Preston blessed our sweet baby girl Amanda Lynn. Here are some pictures of that special day.





This is all Preston's side of the family.This is all my side of the family.Amanda with her Dad, Grandpa's and Uncles. She is forunate to have a lot of great men to help look after her.
Amanda with her Mom, Grandma, Nana and Aunts. All the women that she can turn to for advice.
All the cousins on Preston's side.All the cousins on my side (minus Warner)
It was a very special day and we were so grateful for all the family being there. It was great to have the whole family there. We had all 38 family members over to our house for a delicious lunch that afternoon. It was great. So grateful for the amazing sewing skills of my Mother-in-Law that made Amanda's beautiful dress.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Swimming pool/Halloween and cuteness

Our pool was finished October 17th so I took some pictures of the kids at the bottom prior to filling it with water.



This picture makes me chuckle now. At the time it was frustrating. Check out Natalie's face. She was mad because she wanted to hold Amanda all by herself. I know I am such a mean mom to not let my 3 year old hold my 7 day old baby by herself while sitting on a concrete step that has a 4 1/2 foot drop. I was nervous with my 9 and 5 year old holding her under these circumstances.

Finally Natalie cooperated and joined the rest of them.

Preston took off working 2 hours early on the 18th and swam with the kids while the pool was filling.



We finished filling the pool and the heater was hooked up on October 26th. The kids did swim on the 22nd when it wasn't hooked up to the heater but it was pretty cool. They went out to swim on the 29th while the heater was on and it was much more tolerable.





With the recent cooler temperatures noone has been swimming since the 29th of October. It is pricey to heat the pool so we won't be swimming too much this winter. Likely the next time we will swim will be Thanksgiving weekend and I can finally get in the pool after my 6 week postpartum wait. YEAH!!!!Halloween this year the kids were a Disco Dude/ Princess Aurora and a Cheerleader.These are just some random pictures of Amanda. I am trying to capture many newborn pictures because the time passes so quickly. Amanda is quite an easy going sweet baby. We all love her.